(Skeleton Key) Princess of the Damned Read Online Free

could only hear the faintest of lullabies, echoing in her head.
    The darkness had already chased those memories away, but she held fiercely to the others.
    She didn't realize tears were soaking the gray of her pillow until Kaida sniffed and tried to dry them with his nonexistent flame. Hot breath scalded her face and she jerked away, laughing because if not for laughter, she might scream.
    And scream.
    And never stop.
    Clearly, sleep wasn't going to come easily this morning, so she picked up her knitting and worked on Kaida's outfit, humming mindlessly and praying the boy would return.
    He didn't.
    She whiled away the day watching the nightmares attack wandering souls.
    "We've brought a friend for you, Lovey." Elizabeth purred from the doorway. Eiress hadn't even heard her pull the door open.
    She was sneaky like that.
    Eiress dropped the knitting and bounced to her feet, shielding Kaida from Elizabeth's view. "I thought everyone got away last night."
    Elizabeth raised a thin perfect eyebrow. "I thought you'd be happy." She jutted her bottom lip out and pouted, her eyes sparking with barely concealed hate. "We just got her. A stupid, helpless girl just like you."
    "Can I see her? Where are you holding her?"
    "No. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with her yet. I just wanted you to know." Her smile widened and she wiped just a trace of blood from her lip.
    Eiress gasped, stumbling backward.
    Laughing, Elizabeth skipped away.
    Eiress sank onto the bed, her heart cracking. A new princess. Eiress had to find her. Protect her. Somehow, she could save this one. She had to.
    She rolled her eyes to the mirror. "Dear friend. What do I do?"
    He wasn't there. Still.
    Somewhere in the castle, someone screamed.
    Luckily, the screaming distracted her from worries over him. Apparently, the new princess wasn't adjusting well.
    At all.
    Eiress glanced at Kaida, who slept, and though she was loath to leave her mirrors in case her friend returned, she had to do something about the wails that nearly shook the castle walls. She wished she could leave a message—to tell him she worried, that she would be right back. She wished so much…
    She had a gruesome idea, but desperate times…
    Picking up her knitting needle, she dug it into the tip of her finger. It hurt, but not much, not compared to the rest of her life. She snatched up her white duvet and traced her finger along its pristine whiteness.
    Luckily for her, Mary hated her princesses to be worthless. She demanded they be taught arithmetic and reading and any other knowledge new princesses brought with them. She was a harsh task masker, though. Eiress had lost much blood trying to learn to write her own name.
    The memories of Mary's laughter while she tore at Eiress's skin still brought chills to her spine.
    She shoved that memory away and gnawed on her lip, wondering what to write. How to start, even. Dear Boy I do not know ? That didn't sound very friendly. Dear Boy ? That…just sounded strange. And what to include? I'm going to stop the screaming just sounded frightening. I've been worried sick over you, but I'm forced to leave the mirror, and don't know when I'll be back. Also, I think I'm in love with your soul and I would sell my own to hear your voice.
    Umm. Yes, probably not.
    I will return. Please wait for me.
    There. Very eloquent.
    The sheer panic in the screaming increased, and fearing Elizabeth had gotten her claws into their newest princess, Eiress picked up her skirts and ran.
    It wasn't often that she left her chambers during the day, or at all, actually, except when she was forced to attend the nightly ball. The weak sun cast more shadows than it dispelled over the faces immortalized in their horror, carved into the molding as they were. It brought them to life, until their screams joined with the princess's. Eiress dropped her skirts and covered her ears, slippered feet slapping horrifically against the black wood floors. She would have squeezed her eyes shut tight,